


Who Knew This Would Happen

by WifeofLinBeifong



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Airbending & Airbenders, Ba Sing Se, Badass Lin Beifong, Earthbending & Earthbenders, F/F, F/M, Firebending & Firebenders, Republic City, Romance, Waterbending & Waterbenders
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-14 19:08:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 14,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29051163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WifeofLinBeifong/pseuds/WifeofLinBeifong
Summary: When starting at the Republic City Police Department, an incident you had starts to present itself as a problem here too. You have to fill the Chief of police, Lin Beifong, in on everything that happened after you get attacked. You are protected at the station which leads to you getting to know your boss on a more personal level. What does it mean?
Relationships: Lin Beifong/Reader
Comments: 46
Kudos: 85





	1. New Start

As I locked my front door, I saw I had some time before I had to be at work. I walk to a bookstore down the street and see they have some small black notebooks. I grab two and head to the register. My next stop is to a coffee shop down the street from the station. I see a woman in a police uniform walking toward the same door as me and I open it for her to enter first. She ends up behind me in line though after she looked at some of the products on the shop's snack rack. As we make our way further to the counter, a few cops walk in.

“Hey Chief! Mako says he has something real important to talk to you about when you get in”. I look behind me and realize the woman I held the door open for is the Chief Beifong.

She simply gives them a nod and turns back towards the counter. As I get to the front, I place my order and inform them I also want to pay for the Chiefs order too. I don’t want this to come off as sucking up, I just want to be nice. I pay and as I'm turning to leave, I flash the Chief a small smile.

I get to the station and ask where my desk is. Following the instructions, I find it and start unpacking. I notice some officers get quiet and I see Chief Beifong walking in. She has this look on her face like she's on a mission and looks in my direction. I look away and grab the last thing I need from my bag. I heard her voice for the first time, “My office”, I looked up and realized she was talking to me. I quickly follow behind her. As the door meets the frame, I hear a click of the lock. I stand there waiting to see what is coming my way when she looks up and says,

“Sit down. I don’t bite”.

I walk over to her desk and take a seat on the right side. She's very intimidating and makes me nervous. She flips through papers from a file for a minute and asked, “You want to tell me why I have a note from your former boss saying you have restrictions to what you can do in the field?” and notice she looks ticked off.

“I-” I cough- “There was an incident that is keeping me from being allowed to work on certain, bigger cases. It happened after I was hired”. I look down at my feet hoping she won’t ask anymore questions and start to feel anxious. I start to scratch at the back of my hand and feel my face get hot when I hear,

“What, did you injure yourself or something?”. I lift my head enough to see her through my bangs,

“something like that”. She has this small look of confusion but quickly returns to her stone look.

“Ok, you’re all set. Get back to work”. I get up and hear the door unlock as I walk towards it. As I'm about to leave, I hear her voice one last time, “ oh, and (Y/N)? Thank you for the coffee”. I give her a nod and walk out.

I sit down at my desk and start some paperwork for a guy some other cops just brought in. They sit him down in the chair next to my desk and tell me the information:

Hikoro Lee, 39, arrested for attempted robbery.

The form takes all but fifteen minutes to fill out and I hand it to the officers. I start and finish some other paperwork right up to my break. I grab a sandwich and a second coffee and eat it at my desk while I look through a notebook I had in my bag. I keep logs of my dreams and what I was feeling during and after them. I make marks, leave notes, and write down ideas it gave me. Chief had been running in and out of her office all day and found me at my desk during my break thinking i’m working right through it. “Hard worker”, she says as she passes my desk. A small smile forms on my face as I appreciate the comment. I work through the rest of the day until my shift is over.

When I got home from my first day at work, I set my bag on the counter in my kitchen and pulled leftovers from my fridge. While I let those warm on the stove, I pull my dream notebook out and place it next to the series I was writing. I’ve never published any work, the writings are more for me as a creative outlet. I actually don’t want anyone else ever seeing these. I take my dumplings off the stove and walk over to my desk. I read as I stuff my face with the little food I had left and start writing. I go back and forth between reading my dream journal and writing my story. After about an hour of writing, I move onto drawing as one of my coping mechanisms for stress. It’s dark, terrifying, and to others disturbing, but It is supposed to depict my feelings towards the incident I had about a month back. I place the sketchbook on the coffee table and grab my dream journal. I want to put the journal on my nightstand before heading to the shower. Before I know it, It’s 1 in the morning and I'm curled up in bed falling asleep.


	2. I Feel Eyes On Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first day went by so smoothly, but you can't expect the same for the second. This is when the truth comes out and you have to fill Chief Beifong in on your past. What will she think?

“STOP, YOU’RE HURTING HER!” I scream. I’m panting and gripping the sheets on my bed. I realize I'm in my new house, safe from the monsters that hurt me. I grab my dream journal and frantically write everything down: 

I had the nightmare about the incident again. It felt so real, like I was living through it again and I couldn’t do anything to save her. The sight of her body sinking to the floor becoming lifeless keeps replaying in my nightmares. 

I put the journal on the nightstand and do some breathing exercises, but tears start to roll down my face. My body goes limp on my bed and the tears are pouring out at this point. After a while, I get up to make some tea to calm my nerves. As I enter the kitchen, I get this feeling like someone is watching me. I grab my big knife and start flipping light switches on. All the lights in the house are on and all the shades are drawn. I double check doors are locked and head back to make my tea. When it’s done, I bring it to the corner of my living room. My sketchbook and the knife are by my side and I look at the clock. It’s 4 AM, I have about two hours before I need to start getting ready. I sit there until six, guarding the door, the whole time wishing I could go back to sleep. 

I’m ready for work and nearly forget to lock my door. I start walking to the coffee shop and grab myself a triple espresso. As I’m walking out, I drink it like I’m taking a shot and head inside the station. I place my stuff down and ask where the training room is. I walk in seeing a punching bag; that's what I want to use. I take off my uniform having just a sports bra and leggings on. Punch after punch, hitting harder and harder I go for about 30 minutes when I hear another officer, “calm down there”. I stop and lookover panting, sweat dripping down my face, and give a nod. Some people are chatting and as I turn to grab my uniform, the room goes silent. The small mirror on the wall gives me a view of them and everyone is staring at me. I head to the showers before I return to my desk. 

As I work on some papers, I can hear whispers and see people looking at me out of the corner of my eye. I try not to let it bother me and work right up until lunch again. Grabbing my bag, I start to head out when my shoulder hits another person.

“Oh, I’m so sorry chief!” she glares at me, 

“It’s fine”. 

I walk out getting some looks from some officers and run over to the coffee shop, I grab two coffees, both are double espresso. I return to the station and drop my stuff off at my desk running to the bathroom. I look in the mirror to see the exhaustion painted on my face. I splash some cold water on my face and see Chief Beifong standing next to me. 

“Better wake up. Your shift isn't over yet.” she says with a stern voice. 

I give her a nod, dry my face, and make my way to down both cups of coffee. I sit and see a lot of people are staring at me; even the Chief. I work through the day, every so often feeling my head bobbing. My shift finally ends and I start making my way out. 

As I walk up to my house, I notice the door is cracked open. I have a small pocket knife hidden on my porch that I grab before slowly entering. I drop my bag and search the house. I start in the family room and make my way to the bedroom. I don’t find anyone and let my guard down. When I start making my way to the kitchen, I realize I forgot to check the closet. I start to open the door and feel a force tackle me to the ground. I give a jab into the figures side causing them to roll off of me. I stand up and start to run but get tripped by them. I look back at him and recognize his face. He’s the one who attacked me and my girlfriend a month ago. 

How did he find me?

I kick him and roll towards my family room getting to my feet. He gets up and a few punches are thrown before he starts earthbending. Rocks are breaking through my floor boards and getting pegged at me as I shift my back to face the hallway. He throws them faster causing me to fly back into another closet at the other end of my hallway, breaking the door. Too tired to move, I sit there as he walks over to me and crouches. 

“I’m not going to kill you now,” he lets out a small chuckle, “I want you to live in fear for a little while”. He makes one cut on my cheek and one on my stomach, then he disappears. 

I sit there in disbelief, scared as tears roll down my face. Five minutes pass and I start to crawl to the phone in my family room. I feel a slight pain as I reach for the phone. Turning to lean on the table, I notice the trail of blood where I crawled. I hear the phone pick up, “This is Officer (Y/L/N), I need Chief Beifong and another officer at my house immediately”. I hang up and hear sirens not long after; I close my eyes while I wait. Around two minutes later, I feel a hand on my shoulder and open my eyes to see I’m face to face with Chief Beifong. 

“You alright?’ she asks.

“I think so, but we need to talk”. She gives me a hand getting to my feet and follows me to my room so we can talk privately. Clutching my stomach so I don’t bleed on anything else, I collapse into a chair and use my foot to pull a stool over for her. She sits and has a stone look on her face. I grab the first journal I started writing in a month ago from the bookshelf next to me and hand it to her.

“What? Do you want me to read a bedtime story?” she says in a snarky voice, seeming annoyed. 

“No. A month ago, I was attacked. The first thing I was asked to do was find a way to come to terms with what happened and write it all down. You want to know what kind of guy you're up against? Read that; he attacked me a month ago too”. She has this look I can’t quite describe. She starts to read it aloud:

I was at home, going through my normal routine; cooking, writing, drawing for a little, then a shower before bed. Lacey was already asleep. While in the shower, I hear my stereo blasting music and I get out of the shower to check it. I start heading down the hall and as I’m about to reach the stereo, someone grabs me from behind and forces me on the ground. I’m grabbed by the ankle and dragged down to my bedroom. On the way, I lose my towel and my whole body is on display. I’m dragged into the bedroom where I see Lacey on the floor being held there by a larger figure. They hold me in my spot by my neck while they torment and tourture her. I scream out, “ STOP, YOU’RE HURTING HER!” but they keep going.

They give me a few good hits and just as they are about to leave, I feel the sharp pain enter my back and make its way through my entire body. When I wake up, I find out Lacey didn’t make it.

She looks at me shocked. 

“I lived in Ba Sing Se and worked as a guard. You had approved my transfer here and two days later, they killed my friend Lacey infront of me”. I let out a sigh, “This is why I couldn’t start until yesterday. This is why I have restrictions”. She stands up and puts the notebook back looking at how big of a collection I have, the art on my walls, and the state of my room. 

She turns back to me, “Pack some things. He knows where you live so you aren’t safe here. You’re staying at the station until we apprehend him”. 

I Push myself up and walk over to my closet to fill a bag with clothes for the next week. I pull one last shirt out for me to change into. I look in the mirror to look at the cut on my cheek before taking my shirt off. I bandage my stomach and grab the new shirt seeing Chief Beifong looking at me shocked once again. 

I turn and she looks me in the eye, “What? Didn’t think there was someone that could have as many scars as you?” She lets out a small chuckle.

“You’ll have to tell me how you survived that”. She motions towards the door.  
Before we exit the house, I grab my bag and fill it with my notebooks and sketchpad. I climb into the chief's satomobile and we head for the station.

When we get upstairs, I start to set my stuff on my desk when the Chief turns around, “You had a bad enough night, stay in my office, I have a couch you can sleep on”. I follow her and place my things down. I see her sitting at her desk and begin writing.

“Do you always work this late?’ I ask.

“Yes,” she states sharply, “Now be quiet, I have to finish these reports”. I apologize and make myself comfy on the couch with my notebook.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this is ok. let me know what you think.


	3. What Can You Tell The Chief?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Having to spend most of your time with the Chief, she starts to learn things about you. You talk about the case and a little about the attack a month before which leads to you seeing a little bit of her soft side.

I wake up screaming again causing Beifong to jump. Panting and holding the edge of the couch I look over at the Chief and apologize. I lay back down still squeezing the cushions.

“What the flameo was that about?” she asks in a groggy voice. 

“I’m sorry. I- I just had a bad dream, that’s all. Did I wake you?” I look over to see her resting her head in her arms.

“Yeah,” letting out a small sigh, “You gonna keep doing that?” she asks.

“Well. I have them every night. I definitely lose sleep over it. Why don’t you move over here? You get half of the couch, I get the other”. I scrunch up on my half and I can see on her face she’s considering it. She stands up, but before making her way to the couch, she takes her armor off, turns the light off, and grabs a blanket from a small trunk she has. She sits down.

I sift through my bag for my notebook and walk over to the window for the small amount of light. I don’t want to forget my dream so I quickly jot it down. I hear the sound of shifting from the couch, “You invite to share my couch with me and leave as soon as I come over?” 

“Sorry, I need to write down what the nightmare was about,” I responded. I finish the last few words and take a quick look at the clock. “I have five hours until I start work. Fuck!” I say as I walk back to the couch. 

“Two days in and you already hate it. Good to know” she says sounding pissed off.

“No, I just don’t know what I’m going to do to fill the time. I’m usually too freaked out to go back to sleep”. I plop back down on the couch and hear the door to her office lock. 

“There. Now go to sleep”. I end up falling back asleep.

I’m woken up with a flick in the head and a coffee in my face, “Thank you” I respond with the quietest voice. Although I was flicked, it was nice to wake up to someone giving me coffee; I haven’t had that since the day Lacey was killed. 

“Don’t mention it. So you actually fell back asleep and didn’t wake me with another one of your screams” I sigh. “You still have to fill out your statement about yesterday. Go do that” I get up with a huff and feeling sore in my stomach. 

Some officers stare at me as I walk out of her office in my pajamas and fresh cuts. An officer hands me the form and I write about last night's events. Another officer walks over asking what happened. I try not to be too specific and keep dodging his questions when Chief Beifong yells at him to stop pestering me. I hand the form over to her when I’m done and sip on my coffee. I see it’s two hours past the start of my shift and realize she let me sleep in. I don’t waste anymore time and get ready for the day. Sitting at my desk doing paperwork was keeping my mind off of everything until I heard a tap on my desk.

“(Y/N), let’s talk.” I nod and follow her.

As we walk out of the station, I slightly hesitate to continue and take a sharp breath in. Beifong looks at me over her shoulder, but doesn’t stop. I run to catch up and we walk to a small restaurant called Narook’s Seaweed Noodlery in silence. Not many people are here and it’s quiet. A waitress brings us to a table in the back and places two menus down for us. I smile and nod at the waitress as my way of thanking her and sit across from the chief. 

“Let’s talk about the case”. She starts to look through the menu.

“Did you know the guy before the attack a month ago, or your friend Lacey?” she asked.

I sit back and start to look at the menu as well. “No, but he seemed to have an idea who I was”. She gives a quick glance over her menu.

“Does he have any identifying features? Did he work with anyone?” 

“He’s a buff guy, long blonde hair, no visible scars on his face, but I did see a tattoo on his neck last night, not sure what it was. As for a partner, he had two of them during the first attack”.

“Well, I noticed you can draw. Mind showing me the tattoo?” She asks, pulling a pen out of her pocket. I give her a nod and start drawing on my napkin. Meanwhile, the waitress walks over and takes the table's orders. I place the pen on the napkin and push it towards her. 

“I’ve never seen this symbol before. I think I'm going to make a trip to Air Temple Island, someone there may have an idea. I want you to join me” I nod and the waitress brings our food over. 

We eat in silence and as we are leaving, I look at her, “Thanks for lunch” She looks over and nods. When we get to the island, we are greeted by three kids. They talk to the chief like they know her well. She barely responds to them as we walk up the stairs. An Air Master comes out followed by three other people around my age. 

“What do we owe the pleasure Lin?” He asks.

She pulls out the napkin from her pocket and hands it to him, “Have you seen this symbol before?” The four others surround him to take a look before they all shake their heads. The Chief and I sigh at the same time.

“Why? What’s happening?” the girl in the Water Tribe clothes asks.

“Officer (Y/L/N) here was attacked a month ago in Ba Sing Se and the same man attacked them last night too. He had this tattooed on his neck”. Everyone’s eyes focus on me and I start to feel anxious. 

“Stop staring” she commands. My face starts to redden.

Chief starts to fill them in on everything I’ve told her. They let her know they will keep an eye out for him and they will help in any way they can. We head back to the station in silence again and when I get to my desk, I feel a hand on my shoulder. The Chief is patting me as she passes. I call to her, “Chief,” she turns around, “I’ll come to your office when my shift ends”. She gives me one last nod before closing her door.

I see there is a new pile of papers I have to fill out. One by one, I speed through them. I double check everything before I hand it to Mako. He smiles and thanks me.

“You got the chief to leave her office for food? We’ve never seen her so relaxed. How’d you manage that?” He looked surprised. 

“Wait, you’re telling me she NEVER leaves for lunch?” I question.

“Especially with officers”.

“Well we just talked about a case” he gives you a look and walks away.

I look at the clock; one more hour to go. Officers keep handing me reports to fill out. I take it one at a time and realize my shift is over. The constant reports and paperwork got me a little tense. I know I told Chief Beifong I'd go right to her office, but I need to work out this frustration. I go to the training room; I’m lifting weights and see the punching bag opens up. It’s not until the room gets quiet that I realize Beifong has walked in. 

She raises one eyebrow as she looks at me, “I Thought you were coming to my office when your shift was over?” I don’t stop hitting the punching bag.

“Yeah sorry. Needed to relieve some stress” each punch getting more and more aggressive. She grabs my arm and stops me from my next hit. I look at her and she has this look. She puts her hands up, palms facing me, “let someone else bully the bag. Give my hands some nice punches” I give her a look wondering if she really wants me to do that. She waves her hands and readies herself. I throw some good punches her way until as I throw each hand, she grabs my fists and looks me in the eye. 

“Go shower, I’ll meet you in my office” we both turn and go our separate ways. 

I wash up and start to feel just how sore I really am. It’s a good thing she stopped me when she did or I would have just kept going. I get dressed and head to the chief's office. When I walk in, I see her writing at her desk. She just barely looks up at me and points to the food with her pen. “Eat up. That was one hell of a work out. You need to get some energy back” she goes back to writing.

“Did you get food for yourself?” I question her. She points again to some food she has on a cabinet behind her. I make my way around the desk and grab the containers. “Let’s go” I yank the pen out of her hand, “You need to eat too. Eat with me” I wave the food by her empty hand. I hear a growl escape her mouth and she takes the containers. I place the pen on her desk and walk over to the couch with her. 

“You’re a tough kid. You throw some good punches. I’m surprised you couldn’t handle the guy that attacked you” I pause looking at the floor.

“I mean, I was pretty exhausted. I got maybe 3-4 hours of sleep the night before. So when I got home, I was pretty weak”.

“Why didn’t you sleep?” I can see out of the corner of my eye she’s looking at me.

“It’s the- It’s the nightmares. They’ve just kind of gotten worse over the month. Then it felt like someone was watching me. Long story short, I got paranoid and stayed up” Her eyes are wide open as she stares at me. “The thing is, I’ve come to terms with Lacey’s death itself, just not how it happened. I- should have done something to help her. Instead I sat there letting them hold my shoulders” She places her hand on my arm. 

“I got the report from the station in Ba Sing Se; I read it. There was nothing you could have done. Don’t hold yourself responsible”. She looks around and sees my sketchbook on the floor. She places her food down and starts sifting through it. The pages are covered in dark themes and colors, to express my pain. 

She stands up and walks to her desk placing the sketchbook down and sifting through her desk drawer. She pulls out a small bottle of whiskey and flashes it to me, “I think this is called for”. Grabbing two glasses, she walks back over and hands me one. While she pours it into my glass, I hear the click of her lock once again. She pours one for herself and sets it down briefly so she can take her armor off. She sits next to me, “to a shitty week!” she says.

“To a shitty week!” I respond.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter has a little spice to it. Hope y'all like this chapter!


	4. I Remember

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the way she comforted you last night, you didn't know you could get closer, but wow were you close; literally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope y'all enjoy this little bit of spice.

I wake up sweating and notice I’m sitting up. I hear some movement to my left and feel another person's hand grab mine. I turn to see the chief. Her eyes are still shut, but her thumb is softly rubbing the back of my hand. It was sweet, but definitely not something I would have thought she’d do. Of course then, We were also sort of cuddling on the couch and I would have never expected that either. She slowly pulls me back down next to her and rests her arm across my torso. I’m confused, but I also kind of like the contact. I lay there trying to remember what put us in this scenario, but nothing is coming up. 

What the hell happened last night?

I fall back asleep and when I wake up, the chief is still sleeping. I check the clock for the time noting we have 30 minutes until we have work. I don’t rush and lay there for 15 more minutes before I slowly get up so as not to disturb her. I walk out to the little kitchenette the station has and get two cups of coffee. When I get back to her office, I place my cup down and gently rub her shoulder. She wakes up and I present the coffee to her. She groans realizing it’s morning and that’s how I learn she is not a morning person. I talk quietly to not add to the unhappiness and tell her we have 10 minutes until our shift starts. She sits up holding her head and takes the coffee. I have a headache and drink my coffee fast hoping that will make it go away. 

“Do you remember any of last night?” I ask her.

“No. You?” she responds. I shake my head and take another sip.

“Well what about when I woke up early this morning? Do you remember you kind of helped calm me down and get back to sleep?” She scratches her head and then responds,

“No”.

I don’t bother leaving the room to change. I get dressed for work behind her couch so she can’t see anything and she’s behind her desk.. As I work through the day, I try to remember what events took place the night before. All I could remember was me opening up to her more about the incident from a month ago and I decided I can wait until lunch to ask her not to share that with anyone. When lunch rolls around, I grab a sandwich from the cafe across the street and head to Chief Beifong’s office. I knock and hear her call out, “Come in”. I lock the door behind me so no one can interrupt us. Confusion is all I see on her face when I turn around. I walk over to her desk and take a seat. She doesn’t give me her full attention, writing on what looks like a form.

“I wanted to ask that you don’t share what I told you last night with anyone”. She looks up at me mimicking the movement of zipping her lips shut. That’s what trigger’s my memory. Her lips. 

“Oh god!” The confused look returns to her face, “I’m starting to remember parts of last night. It’s bad. I- I mean it- it was good, but it’s so bad”. Her face changes from confused to concerned.

“What the fuck happened?” she lightly barks.

“Um, well, we cuddled, um-” 

“Spit it out”. I can sense the worry in her voice.

“We kissed and made out. I’m pretty sure at one point you straddled me. Then we fell asleep together on the couch. You were very touchy. I’m- oh god, ok- I’m not complaining though”. She blushes and her breathing starts to speed up. I place my hand on hers, “I won’t tell anyone. Ever. I promise”. 

“No one can ever know” . I nod in agreement. I wait with her until she's breathing at a regular pace and place the sandwich on her desk. I slide it close to her indicating she needs to remember to eat and walk to the door. “Thanks” I hear from behind me. I return to my desk and finish my shift. 

As I'm cleaning my desk for the night, Mako comes over, “Hey, um, is the chief ok? She’s acting kind of funny” he leans in a little.

“How should I know?” I respond making it seem like I haven’t gotten to see a softer side of her.

“Oh, sorry, I just figured- well since you guys have been spending so much time together that maybe you knew something”. He stepped back embarrassed that he even asked me. I shrug and he walks away. 

I get up and walk into the chief’s office and start to rifle through my bag.

“I um- I’m going to stay at my house tonight. I’m a little sore. You’re- You’re welcome to join me at my house. But no funny business!” she scratches her head seeming embarrassed. 

“I wouldn’t dream of it happening any other way” I say with a giggle. I want to lighten the mood, but I also lied a little. The parts I remember were nice. Maybe I'm just socially and physically starved, but I would give anything to be around her tonight. I mean, she’s also the only person I talk to. She has some paperwork to finish so I wait for about an hour. 

She packs up and asks if I'm ready to go. I grab my bags and give her a nod. She’s silent during the car ride and I know it's because she’s uncomfortable. I decide to break the silence, “I know you’re usually quiet, but please don’t stop talking to me because of last night . I know things are weird, but I don’t want this affecting us. Hell, you’re the only person I talk to. It may be about work, but still”. She stays quiet and I sigh. 

When we pull in, she sits there for a minute before saying, “Ok”.

“What?” I ask.

“”I won’t go silent on you. I’m sorry, I’m just worried someone will find out”. She still hasn’t looked at me, so i’m not completely convinced.

“Well can you look at me? You’ve avoided eye contact since I told you”. She hesitates, but looks over and gives me a small nod. 

We get in the front door and I set my stuff down by the couch. She has a very empty room and little-to-no decorations. “Make yourself at home. I have to shower”. 

While she showers, I settle on the couch and begin drawing in my sketchbook. I want to surprise her with a fun but quirky drawing. I plan to draw it quickly while she's gone only doing an outline. I see a medal she got for her service and I place the drawing beside it. I start another drawing and soon hear her coming down the stairs. She heads straight for the kitchen which is out of my view, but it sounds like she is cooking. Not long after, she joins me bringing in two bowls of food. I place the sketchbook next to me and take the bowl. 

“Thanks Chief”.

“We aren't at the station, you can call me Lin”. She is the first to finish and I use it as an opportunity to take her empty bowl to the kitchen and clean it for her. When I return, I see she’s moved and found the picture I've drawn. It’s the biggest smile I’ve ever seen from her.

“You like it?” I ask. 

“Yeah” leaving a smile on her face.

She then grabs my sketchbook to see what I was drawing before she came in to find it’s not as dark as usual. She flips back and finds a sketch of her curled up on the couch in her office. 

“You drew this last night?” she asked.

“Apparently. That part of my memory never came back”. She stares at it for a while.

She goes to the kitchen one last time and returns with tea. “Jasmine tea. It will help you sleep” handing it to me and withdrawing a little when I touch her hand to grab it. “Sorry” she says: I can tell she means it. We sit in silence feeling the tea starting to take effect. She stands up and lets me know she’s heading to bed. She disappears and I start getting ready for bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think. I hope you liked it!


	5. You’re Safe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She's going to be ok, but how can this be happening again?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you like it!

I wake up, but to my surprise, there’s only two more hours before we have to leave and I didn’t have a nightmare. I lay there for a minute before I realized there is a new piece of paper on the table. The note reads:

I see you have a new friend. 

The same symbol I drew for Lin was below it and I knew he found a way in. I run up the stairs constantly tripping myself. I open the door to find her still sleeping and she looks unharmed. Knowing he only made the appearance for me, I look for signs of another person in her house to be sure it was clear before grabbing my things and leaving. It was about a forty-five minute walk and I set my stuff down on my desk. I’m beyond early and notice I need a shower. I take a quick one so I can start work. I look through the file Lin had for this case to take mental notes of any ideas she has about their location. Lin told me she doesn’t want me alone, but I ignore her instructions. I stuff one of the new notebooks I got into my pocket with a pen and head out to look around some known abandoned places. 

I return to the station close to my lunch break. The Chief stares me down and I know I’m about to get screamed at. I walk into her office and her words start to hit me,

“WHERE THE HELL DID YOU GO? ARE YOU FUCKING INSANE?” her face is red. 

“I’m sorry but something got me spooked and I didn’t want you getting hurt,” I pull the note out of my pocket and hand it to her, “I found this on the table next to me. He was in your house. He’s trying to make this a game, so I’m changing it!” 

“YOU SHOULD HAVE TOLD ME INSTEAD OF RUNNING OFF!” She yells.

“Can you stop screaming? I get it, you’re angry, but i’m not yelling and it’s not helping anyone,” Her eyes thin even more pissed that i’m not falling into line, “I’m sorry if I worried you, I did what I thought was best”. She huffs.

“For now on, you are doing your work in my office and you’ll be staying the night here again. I’ll have an officer stationed outside my door so you can’t run again” She says taking a seat at her desk.

I grab my bags and paperwork and let Mako know if he has any work for me, I’ll be in the Chief’s office. She refuses to speak another word until our shift is over. “If I hear about you leaving the station tonight, I will hit you myself” and she walks out. I walk to the door to get a muffin from the kitchenette when the officer stops me.

“So what, I can’t eat now either?” He sends another officer to retrieve food for me while I sit on the couch. 

I keep thinking about the note and the rest of the case. I knew he wanted to hurt me, and he had the perfect opportunity to do it last night, but he chose to leave a note instead? When I finish my meal, I walk to the door, “Can I please go to the training room? I need to move around” He moves to the side and follows me there. I do squats and lift weights before I turn to my “body guard”.

“How about we spar?” He gives me a look like I’m stupid, “Come on, It’s more entertaining then just standing there”. He looks around, nods, and readies himself. It’s hand to hand, no bending, and we start off slow so he can warm up. We give it about five minutes before we start to get rough. He blocks some of my punches, I block a few of his, and just as my foot is about to hit him, he grabs it. I then jump to use my other foot and land the kick. Both of my feet are free and I reset to the starting position. 

“Nice. I didn’t expect that. You're strong for a short person” He states.

I push him to the ground and look dead in his eyes, “One, just because i’m small doesn’t mean I can’t handle myself. Two, It doesn’t mean I can’t handle others” and I glare at him. He pissed me off by saying that and he can tell. 

“Alright i’m sorry. Mercy. I give up”. I grab my towel and head to the shower. The water is hot and I take longer than I need since I was placed prisoner in Lin’s office. 

I head back to the office and begin to work on some writing. It’s been a few days and this lock in has me worked up; She’s being ridiculous. I keep writing, but nothing I put on the paper feels right. I sit back and start to think about the recent events.

It seems I really scared her. I apologized, what else does she want from me? This is so stupid, but I shouldn’t have scared her like that. No! You know what, she’s insane! No, I don’t mean that. I’m sure she did this because she cares. It’s sweet.

“God, what am I thinking, she’s my boss” but I realize I start to think about her again.

I put everything in my bag before I walk over to the couch. The blanket she pulled out two nights ago is still there and I wrap myself in it, it smells like her. A small smile makes its way onto my face as I think about her. She’s strong and caring in her own way. She has a way about her that you notice you find attractive. You close your eyes and imagine her face. 

When You wake up in the morning, You see you woke up late and your shift started an hour ago. As you walk out of her office dressed and ready for the day, you see Mako jogging towards you.

“Where is the Chief?” he asks.

“What do you mean? She hasn’t come in yet?”

“No. No one has seen her since last night”. He and I know she has never and would never come in to work late.

“Grab your keys, we’re making a visit to her house” I tell him.

We run to the car and he wastes no time whipping out of the parking spot. With the lights and siren on, we weave through the other cars on the road. It’s supposed to be a 20 minute drive, but we arrive in 10 minutes instead. I run to her door and the knob doesn’t budge. We bang on the door for her, but there is no sign of her. I start to pick the lock and it turns. Mako looks around downstairs, but I run straight to her bedroom. I open it to see the window wide open and Lin tied up on the bed. Her eyes are closed and I tap on her shoulders. 

“Lin? Lin, wake up!” Her eyes partially open. As she starts to close them, I caress her cheeks, “Lin stay with me!” Mako comes running in.

I begin to untie her and once her hands are free, she starts to attempt to sit up, but doesn’t make it far making a whimpering noise. She places her hand on her torso. I move her hand and roll the bottom of her tank top up to see a burn that was left. 

“Mako, I want you to go get a glass of water and a clean rag,” I turn and he hasn’t moved, “NOW!” and he disappears. I untie her feet and check the bathroom for a tub. I see one in the corner and return to her. Placing my right hand on her forehead to move her hair out the way and feel the heat. 

“Lin? I need to move you to the tub. You’re going to be ok”. I place one arm under her back and she tries to reach her arms around my neck. “I've got you. I don't want you exerting yourself. Let me do all the work” and she lowers her arms. 

I place my other arm under her knees and carry her into the bathroom, lowering her into the tub. Mako returns with what I asked for and I grab them out of his hand. Turning the knob, cold water starts to fill the tub. I only allow it to get right below her waist before I turn to Mako. “I need you to call this in”.

“(Y/N),” She whimpers quietly, “I need water”.

“I have it right here”

The burn on her torso was that symbol. I knew who had this done to her. I wrap my hand around the cup and bring it to her lips placing my other hand on the back of her head. She finishes it and I put the rag into the tub. Once the whole thing is submerged, I pull it back out and start to run it across her arms and chest, making my way across her forehead and down to her cheeks. I then begin the process of waterbending so the water covered my hands before placing them on the burn. She scrunches her face, but quickly relaxes. I give a quick glance over to the burn before looking back at her. Her head turns towards me and her eyes open just enough for me to see her jade eyes. I switch to using one hand for healing and bring the other up to caress her cheek. 

“You’re safe Lin. I won’t let anything else happen to you” I whisper quietly. I see some tears forming in her eyes as she nuzzles her head into my hand.

“Thank you (Y/N)”.


	6. Rest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You make it your responsibility to watch over and care for Lin while she is recovering. 
> 
> you just want this to be over and for those bastards to be caught.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy!

I moved her back to the bed once she cooled down. I decided moving her a longer distance would be too painful for her and want her to be as comfortable as possible. I had one officer in her room so she could explain what happened. There were some gaps in her story due to her blocking them out or from her blacking out when it happened. Since we had a police presence there, I sent Mako to grab my things and Team Avatar. When she finishes her statement, I ask the officer to stay at the bottom of the stairs and he closes the door behind him.

“How are you feeling?” I ask her in the calmest voice I can produce.

“It’s painful, but I’ll survive,” she groans.

“Ok. Now how are YOU feeling?” I ask again.

She looks away from me. I stand up to get closer and place my hand on her furthest cheek pulling her face back towards me.

“I know expressing yourself isn’t really your thing, but bottling this up isn’t good and I’m not going to allow that. Please tell me how you’re feeling”.

She hesitates to speak at first, “I don’t know. I guess I feel safe with the officers here, but I'm still kind of scared. I mean, He came through my window. What good are the officers going to be downstairs?” 

“That’s why I’m staying here in your room for the next couple of nights,” her eyes widen and I see she’s nervous, “I’ll be sleeping on the floor right here next to you if you need me. Plus, I need to be here for the round-the-clock healing sessions”. She nods and I move my hand away and shimmy it under hers, closest to me. I give it a squeeze and her face blushes.

There’s a quick knock at the door and I pull my hand away quickly. Mako walks in and tells me the rest of Team Avatar, Tenzin, and President Raiko are downstairs. They all want to come up and see her, but I tell him I'll be down in a minute. 

“Send an officer up to stay with her please” I say as he walks out. 

I turn my face to her, “I want you to rest, maybe get some sleep, and Tenzin and I will come up after to fill you in on anything you need to know”. She nods and I give her hand one last squeeze before leaving. 

Team Avatar is sitting on the couch while Tenzin and Raiko stand next to them talking. I hear a few whispers before I make it known I can hear them. Tenzin turns to me demanding to see her and I glare, 

“After we all talk. Right now she’s resting”. 

“She needs to see a healer! I haven’t seen a single one come through those doors”.

“I can do it,” Korra pipes in.

“For the love of god! I am doing constant healing sessions with her. She’s hurt badly, but she’s tough as we all know, this will just be another scar. I will be staying here for a while until she’s in good enough shape to make the trip to her office, not to work, but so she is safer. I have officers here constantly and others are looking around the area for any tracks they may have left” They all look shocked by my sudden sense to take charge. 

I grab my bag from Mako’s hand and dig through it pulling my sketchbook out. I flip to a page and turn it towards them, “This is a rough sketch of the man who attacked me. As for the man who attacked Lin, his appearance is unknown. When I was attacked a month ago, it was dark and I didn’t see his face”. They all stare at me.

“Did you just call her Lin?” Tenzin asks.

I ignore him in the hopes everyone will just forget. I rip the sketch out and hand it to Team Avatar, “I need your help. Do whatever it is that will help catch these shitbags and protect Beifong” They nod and walk out.

“Can we see her now?” Raiko asks.

“Yes, but don’t have a big reaction to the burn, don’t ask what happened, and just try not to stress her out” I say.

I bring them upstairs and open the door poking my head in. She looks over and gives me a small smile. I let her know Tenzin and President Raiko are behind me. She nods and we all walk in. I’m in the seat to her left and the other two stay at the foot of her bed by the door. They talk for a little and she starts to look uncomfortable.

“Do you need another healing session?” I ask. She nods and I ready the bucket we have next to the bed. Lifting her tank top just below her breasts, careful not to expose them, I start the healing session. 

Once everyone leaves, Lin finally falls asleep. I have an officer sit in the room while I go to her kitchen to make soup in case she’s hungry when she wakes up. When I finish, I put it away and gather my things from the couch. I start to walk up the stairs and nod to the officer when he notices it's me and he can return downstairs. I place a pillow and blanket down on the floor with a view of her and pull out my notebook. Her snores are quiet and cute. I find it amazing how even after enduring the pain she did, she was still so beautiful. Her hair has a bit of shine from the little light that's making its way through the curtains and some people may think she doesn’t care, but she is quite the opposite. She turns her head in my direction, but is still asleep. I find myself staring at her beauty for a little while until I start to daydream. It’s interrupted,

“Why are you looking at me like that?” I hear. I focus my eyes again and see Lin is awake. “(Y/N), why are you smiling at me?”

“Sorry, I was thinking about something,” I feel my face get hot, “How are you feeling?” I ask as I make my way over to the chair next to her.

“Sore” and I give her a look, “.....physically. I- I’m a little nervous to be left alone” I look her in the eye and scoop her hand up.

“I told you, I’m going to be in here all night and god forbid there are any issues, I’ll protect you” her face blushes and pulls her hand away.

“I thought I told you no funny business”. I give her a look. 

“Are you hungry?” I ask. She gives me a nod and I poke my head out the door to have the officer get the soup. 

I walk back over to the seat and pull the bottom of her tank top up for another healing session. I place my left hand on the burn and she grabs my free hand while tensing up. Her face then returns to normal and I rub my thumb over the back of her hand. She slightly looks at me and I notice her cheeks turn a light pink. We are alone in silence until the officer comes in with the soup. I stop the healing session so Lin has a chance to eat. She finishes quickly since she has barely eaten today and I finish the session. Before lowering her shirt, I lightly poke at some areas around the burn to find out if it hurts. Only a few places bother her, but it seems the healing sessions were working well for the first day. She lets me know she's going back to sleep and I realize I'm reacting. 

“I’m so glad you’re ok. This scared the shit out of me. Thought I-...we lost you” I say. I shut the light off and decided to turn in myself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> maybe I'll post another chapter tomorrow for a Valentine's Day gift to you all!


	7. It’s Ok To Ask For Help

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While being stuck at home, Lin displays more emotions than just anger and frustration.

I wake up to a thud that shakes the floor and a few whimpers accompanied by heavy breathing. I open my eyes to find Lin is kneeling on the floor using her hands to keep her from collapsing completely on the floor. I quickly sit up to crawl over to her. Placing her arm around my shoulder and grabbing the side of her waist, I slowly pull her up to sit her on the chair. She clutches her stomach.

“What are you doing?” I ask, sounding worried, but also tired. 

“I need to use the bathroom. I can do it. I don’t need your help!” She’s so frustrated. 

“Lin,” I kneel so I can look in her eyes, “I know you are a strong independent woman, but you're badly hurt and there's nothing wrong with asking for help, at least until you do have the strength to do it on your own”. My hand is holding one of her arms while the other is pushing hair away from her eyes.

She allows me to finally help her get to the bathroom. She wants me to leave but she’s unable to bend over without help. I’m able to help her and bring her back to the bed.

“I feel like an old woman with a live-in nurse” She looks so embarrassed.

“Hey, I’m not your nurse,” I say jokingly, “I’m…...ok I’m your nurse. Also, you are not old” She chuckles.

“Let’s take a look at that burn and do a healing session, eh?” I give her a smile. I fold the tank top up to see it looks a little irritated. “Ok, we are gonna have to switch you to a sports bra. The material is irritating the burn and the skin around it”. 

“That i’m doing myself” 

“Ok,” I put my hands up as if i’m surrendering, “That’s fine”. I walk to her bureau and look through it to find a green sports bra. I walk over to hand it to her when she starts to try sitting up.

“Let me help you,”

“No! I can do it!” She struggles only making it halfway before giving up.

“Lin, please just let me help you”. She growls at me and gives me a nod.

I shimmy one arm behind her and grab her hand. As we work on sitting her up, I sit behind her so she can lean on me to take a break. The pain is starting to get to her and it’s showing. She takes some deep breaths before we give it another try. Her breathing is heavy when we finish and she rests her head back on my shoulder.

“Take your time”.

We sit there for a few minutes before she asks, “Can you actually help me? No peeking!”

“Of course I’ll help you, and I would never be so disrespectful” She glares up at me.

I pull up on her tank top revealing other scars; she has so many. Her arms are brought over her head and I manage to get it off completely. She leans back needing another break and I at least have her put her arms through the arm holes. She turns to look at me and our eyes meet. I smile and glide the back of my left hand across her cheek, “You ok?” I ask.

“Yeah. I……..I want to thank you for helping me. They could have gotten a healer here, so why are you staying? You must be sick of me by now”.

“What makes you think i’d be sick of you? Because I’ve spent almost every waking moment since monday with you?” She looks up like that was the obvious reason, “Oh you think it’s that easy to get rid of me? Think again honey”. I giggle and she lets a little smile show.

We manage to get the sports bra on but decide to do the session in this position. As I bring it to her burn, she takes in a sharp breath but starts to relax putting all of her weight on me. We stay like that for a while and then we lay her back down. When I pull the file for this case out, she tries to grab it but I hold it out of her reach giving her a look and she pouts. I humor her by talking some of the notes over with her and that seems to make her pout go away. We are visited by officers bringing us food, drinks, and some new information on the case throughout the day. One officer comes running in around 4:45 telling us they found a hideout not far from here. They found some blood and evidence that it was the men we were looking for. I tell him to widen the search hoping the blood was his and the injury may have kept him from going far. We do our last healing session of the day and she starts to get antsy staying in bed.

“We can try to move around tomorrow, but for now, just rest” she lets out a yell only loud enough for me to hear it not wanting to alarm the other officers in the house. 

“I hate this,” she grumbles.

“I know. We can try playing a game, ooooooooor maybe a little alcohol will stop your whining?” She looks at me unable to decide if she wants to give me a piece of her mind for my comment or just accept my offer. “I’m not getting you drunk again though, you get flirty and touchy” I giggle.

As I walk out of the room, I turn to see her face get a dark red. I grab a bottle and two glasses and make my way back upstairs. She puts her hand out and I move the glass towards her, but she smacks it out of the way grabbing the bottle from my hand. With no hesitation, she uncaps it and takes a swig from it. She hands it to me and I just think, Fuck it, before taking a swig myself. 

I know I said I wouldn’t let her get drunk, but it happened and I definitely did not mean for this. Lin became very talkative from it and seemed to ask questions and make comments sober Lin would hate she said. 

“Can you keep a secret?” she asks. I nod and she proceeds to talk, “I think someone is really attractive” and she follows it with a giggle.

“Is that so?” I ask knowing she’s not going to remember any of this in the morning. She nods.

She puts her hand out and places it on my knee smiling. I grab her hand to put it back on the bed, “I think someone is a little drunk and needs some sleep” I say as I start to tuck her in. She fights me a little getting her hand up to my cheek and looks into my eyes and grabs my other hand.

“Lin, go to sleep now, and we can talk about this in the morning” She pouts, but I know she’ll hate herself in the morning. 

Maybe I shouldn’t tell her.

She stops fighting me and eventually knocks out. I sit for a minute before making my way to the floor for the night.

When she wakes up, she doesn’t remember much like last time and asks if she did anything embarrassing this time. She was dealing with so much and knowing she was very open about her feelings wouldn’t help anything, so I keep it to myself. She looks so relieved to hear me say those words.


	8. Let's Go Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once she's able to get around, you decide that after being indoors for weeks and think a night out is called for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the moment I've been waiting for!!!!!!

A few weeks have passed since Lin’s attack and she’s able to get around on her own. The burn is a bit sensitive still, but it was manageable for her. When we tried to move her to the office, she fought us refusing to leave and give into the fear the attackers tried to put her in. Although she’s not out in the field, she was still working the case from home with my help. During the time we had spent together, I earned more of her trust and she opened up to me. I learned a little about her family, why she became chief of police, and she shared some stories about her scars. I reciprocated and shared about my life too. About a week ago, she told me to stop sleeping on the floor and go to the other side of her bed. It wasn’t until last night that we found ourselves huddled close to each other. She claimed she was cold, but the blush on her cheeks was a dead giveaway she was lying: I didn’t care.

Fast forward to this morning, I woke up with her facing away from me, my arm around her, my body against her and my head buried in the back of hers. I find the warmth of her body calming and it puts me back to sleep. I wake up to her alarm beeping at an annoyingly loud volume and feel her move to turn it off. I feel a cold breeze and let out a grunt. She shuffles around and I open my eyes to find she’s facing me. She pulls my arms back around her and starts to lightly rub my arm.

“Good morning,” I say with a smile. 

We don’t feel like moving, so Lin throws something at the door and yells out, “WE’RE AWAKE! GO AWAY!” and we hear the shuffle of people leaving. She smiles and I let out a laugh. 

“That’s one method” I say to her. She moves her arm so her hand is on my back, “This is nice” I say with a smile.

“Yeah, it is. But if you tell a single person, I swear” She utters.

“No one will know” I assure her. We bring our foreheads together and she wraps her leg around me. I take my chances and plant a kiss on her. She hesitates at first, but kisses me back.

With one swift motion, she pushes me on my back and is on top of me. She cups both of my cheeks and kisses me starting with my lips and making her way to my neck. Her hands travel to my sides using one to bring my hand to her breast. I push her back slightly and she looks hurt.

“I’m sorry, it’s just that I’m the type of person that has to go on a date and get to know them before something physical can happen”. She crawls off looking self-conscious. I sit up and hold her hand, “Lin? Will you go on a date with me?” Her eyes widen and she looks genuinely surprised. 

“You want to go on a date with me?” she asks..

“Of course. I like you Lin. I have for some time now. So what do you say?” I ask again.

She’s quiet for a few seconds before responding, “Yes. I would love to go on a date with you (Y/N)”. We give each other a smile and get up for the day. 

When I’m finished getting dressed, I find Lin in the kitchen and she hands me a cup of coffee. While she changes, I start to cook some breakfast. I hear her coming down and just as she is about to sit, there’s a knock at her door. She opens it to find Mako and the rest of Team Avatar standing there. Lin lets them in and makes her way towards me. 

“What is it?” she snarls.

“We found a firebender near that hideout from a couple weeks ago. He had quite a few cuts that seemed a few weeks old. He gave us quite a fight, but we got him” Korra announces. Lin and I look at each other before we focus back to the team. I shut the burner off and I walk over seeing they have a piece of paper.

“Do you have a picture?” I question slightly aggressively.

They hand the picture to me and I scan it. I look over to Lin who is patiently waiting for me to show her. When I face the image towards her, she looks uncomfortable and nods letting us know this was the guy who attacked her. 

“Excuse me,” she says as she walks up the stairs to disappear into her room. 

“Is she ok?” Asami asks.

I turn towards them. Although i’m not actually sure, I give a nod telling them we will call the station later that day as I escort them out. I briskly turn to jog up the stairs to her empty room. I hear short breaths and discover her infront of her mirror in the bathroom. I’ve never seen her so scared, gripping the sink, and staring at herself. I walk over and place my hand on her back in hopes she’ll allow me to comfort her. Her head falls and I see a small tear. I pull her into a tight hug and she lets loose. She’s being so vulnerable in front of me: she must really be hurting. Once she's calmed down, I walk her down to the couch and bring food and some hot tea. I sit next to her and place a blanket over her lower body and she leans into me.

“You’re going to be ok. You’re strong,” I guide her face to look up at me, “and I will do everything in my power to protect you” She managed a tiny grin.

We are almost done with our day when I look at her and rest my head on the back of my hand, “Would you want to have that date tonight?”

“Tonight? Someones trying to rush it along” She says smirking. I let out a grunt. “Yes. I would love to, but should we really be going out?” seeming concerned.

“How about this, You can pack a bag, and we can spend some time at my place. I had someone start fixing it up since the station gave me the all clear they got all the evidence they needed. It’s also closer to the station” She looks intrigued by my offer.

She gives me a nod and once we finish, we pack everything up and stuff it in one of my bags. She took a shower and prepped to leave giving me a chance to call the station to let them know the change of location for our guards at night. I play it off as we want to be closer to the station and they don’t question it. I hear her footsteps coming down the steps ten minutes later and turn to see her dressed up a bit. She has a slight blush as I look at her in awe admiring her beauty. I lead her out of the house and then follow her to the satomobile.

“Are you sure you can drive? If you’re still too sore, I can do it” She gives me a look like she doesn’t trust anyone else to drive her vehicle. We get to my house and I head straight for the shower myself. 

“I’ll be quick, I promise” she nods.

I take the quickest shower possible and I step out to dry myself off. I keep some sports bras and underwear in a drawer in the bathroom and pull those on. I still cover my body as I pass through the hallway. I put a button up on and some nice dress pants. I’m almost done with the last button while I walk out to see her looking around my living room. This is where I keep the stories I write and she’s looking over the spines of them. 

“You ready?” I say spooking her. She turns to see me dressed up, a bit surprised I’m not wearing a dress. She nods and we leave.

I find it a good idea to walk to the restaurant where we are seated next to each other. We look over our menus. We talk while we wait for our food when we are interrupted. 

“(Y/N)? Chief?” and you realize you’ve been spotted by Korra and Asami. Shit! 

“What are you doing here? Wait, are you on a date?” I can feel Lin’s eyes like daggers on me. 

“No,” I say with a smile, “We are simply out for dinner. We’ve done nothing but hang around the Chief’s place for the last few weeks” 

“Oh,” Korra says like she doesn’t fully believe us. 

“Have a nice dinner” I hope that’s enough to make them walk away and luckily, it was.

Lin looks upset that she was spotted by the girls, “Hey, don’t let them ruin the night. I don’t know about you, but I’m enjoying being out with you” A grin reappears on her face. 

We finish our food and drinks. She looks for her money, and I let her know she didn’t need to do that. We stroll home and I let my hand slip into hers so I hold it. We look at each other with big smiles. When my house is in view, we let go of each other so as not to tip off the officers there. We enter my dark house and I flip the switches. I make some tea for the both of us as she carries her things to my bedroom. She returns in her pajamas and I hand the tea cup to her. As we sip on it, we share more stories about ourselves.

“So what are those notebooks?” she asks looking at my stories.

“That’s just some writing i’ve done. It was one of my methods of coping with the attack” I say looking down at my tea.

“Anything I can read?” She looks at me and notices I've stopped making eye contact.

I take a deep breath. I don’t want her to see what my nightmares inspired, but at the same time, she would find out sooner or later. “Yeah,”

“(Y/N), it’s ok to say you don’t want me to read those. If it’s private, I understand” She places her hand on my arm to comfort me.

“No, it’s ok. It’s probably best you figure out now rather than wait” I notice her furrowed brows as I stand to grab the first notebook I ever worked in. 

She reaches her hand out as I hand the notebook to her. She spends a few minutes flipping through the pages before placing it on the table. I’ve sat putting a distance between us and she corrects it by sliding closer to me. I’m staring down at the floor when she wraps her arms around me and leans her forehead against the side of my head.

“I see the pain in your work, I’m so sorry you went through that” Her hand moves to my cheek furthest from her and kisses the other one. We sit there for a while in silence before she walks me to the bed. 

“Let's get you in some pj’s and into bed” she says softly. She grabs a big shirt I have in the closet while I unbutton my shirt. She slips it over my head and I pull the dress pants off before we climb into bed. I rest my head on her chest and she holds me. 

“Thank you Lin,” I whisper. She kisses the top of my head and we fall asleep.


	9. Please Come Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's your first fight.

For the first time in weeks, she puts her armor on to return to work and I find myself worried about her. She’s so excited to go back to the office. I gather my bag and we head out for work. Our relationship has grown so much since our first date becoming more serious. Before we are in view of anyone around the building, she turns me towards her and plants a kiss on me. My anxiety levels quickly rise and I pull her into a nearby alley.

“We’re going to be late” she says with a smile as big as ever.

“Promise me you’ll be careful!” I respond with a scared look on my face. Her smile starts to disappear noticing my concern.

“Of course (Y/N). Where is this coming from?” She places one hand on my cheek and the other on my arm. 

“I’m sorry,” I sigh and feel a lump in my throat. “It’s just, when we found you, it scared me so much. I don’t think I can handle seeing you like that again” I cover my mouth with my hand and some tears roll down.

She pulls me in tight. My hands wrap around her while one of her hands does the same. She raises the other one to hold my head and play with my hair. I tuck my head into the crook of her neck and take in her touch.

“What happened was scary, but I'm fully recovered and we have the protection of the entire Republic City Police Department,“ I nod, “and I promise I’ll be careful”. She moves her head to look at me and places her hand under my chin to raise my head. Her eyes are soft. 

“It’s ok. Everything is going to be ok” she whispers. I nod and she hugs me in tight again. 

With one last kiss, she wipes away any remaining tears and we walk into the station together. I keep my head down and go straight to the bathroom to splash my face with some cold water. I look at myself in the mirror once before I go back to my desk. Officers welcome me back just as they did with Lin. Everyone was glad to see the Chief pull through her injury. It certainly felt weird to be back here after being gone for so long, especially since everyone was now aware I was a target to a dangerous criminal. During my lunch break, other officers asked me questions about my attack here in the city. That’s when one officer piped in.

“So is that scar on your back from the first attack in Ba Sing Se?” shocked he even asked the question, I sat in silence before answering. 

“Um...well yeah,” I rub the back of my neck, “but I don’t really like to talk about it”. Some of the officers gave him a look while one decided to hit him. 

“So we’re hitting colleagues now?” Lin says in an unamused tone.

“No, he made (Y/N) uncom-” I interrupt him.

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it” I look at Lin in hopes she’ll just drop it: she doesn’t.

“Uncomfortable? How?” she barks.

“Chief, really it’s fine. It’s not that big a deal” I keep my eyes on her and she gets the hint. 

“Fine. But if I hear of this again, someone is paying for it” She leaves and goes back to her office.

It’s time for me to get back to work and I notice another officer gets a call causing him to bolt to the Chief's office. She comes out barking orders. 

“The earthbender from the recent attacks has been spotted!” She calls certain officers to follow her. 

I feel my anxiety levels rise again. They run out and I listen to the sirens of the patrol cars get quieter. I try to distract myself with paperwork, but after an hour of them not returning, it becomes too much for me to handle. I get the address of the spotting and start to head downstairs. Before I can make it out the front doors, I see Lin parking the car. I’m so glad she’s back, but the effects of my fear are still overtaking my body. I run back to my desk so the officers don’t know I was going to look for her and I see them walk in. Lin goes right past me without glancing my way. I can only wait a few minutes before I knock on her door. 

“What?” she barks out. I walk in and see her on the couch. She looks at me and I see the cut on her cheek. I quickly shut the door and lock it.

“Oh my god! What happened?” I walk over and grab her face as I sit down next to her.

“I’m fine. He used my metal cables against me but it's not that bad” I start to clean it and her eyebrows furrow. 

“Lin, you said you’d be careful” She backs away from me as if I had insulted her.

“(Y/N), I was. Do you think I can’t take care of myself?” 

“No, that’s no-” She interrupts me, starting to raise her voice the slightest bit.

“I am more than capable of protecting myself,” she gestures to the cut, “This is nothing, I don’t understand why you're making such a big deal about this” She stands up and walks towards her desk. 

“Lin that’s not what I was saying. This man is a psychopath” I stand to walk towards her and she whips around.

“Just get out of my office”

“Lin-” I start

“GET OUT! NOW!” I step back in shock. She’s never yelled at me before. 

“I’m going home. I can work on the case from there” I storm out grabbing my things and begin to leave the station. I slightly wish she was coming after me, but I didn’t wait around to find out.

When I get home, I start a pot to make some tea and look through the case, but everytime I see Lin’s name, it just makes me think of her and the argument. I decide to turn the burner off and go to my room. I lay in my bed thinking about the whole scenario until i'm asleep.

When I wake up, it’s dark out and I know Lin should be home by now. I stand up and walk out to find the house is empty. The house is dark with just the light coming from the street lamps. 

I can’t believe she didn’t come back.

I walk over to the couch and cover myself with a blanket. I don’t want to eat, move, or talk. I just feel disgusting and keep thinking about what a pathetic person I am. I let the warmth take over my body and close my eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How did I do? Did you like this chapter?


	10. The Word Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After confessing feelings, work on the case is being made to find (Y/N)'s attacker.

I let out a scream and realize i'm in my room. Arms wrap around me and I look over my shoulder to find Lin. This is the first nightmare I’ve had in weeks, and she knows it. I turn to hug her and she holds me tight. Some officers come running in alarmed by the scream. Lin doesn’t release me even though she told me so many times she doesn’t want people to know about us. She sends them away and looks down at me.

“You’re ok. It was just a nightmare” She whispers as she runs her fingers through my hair. 

“Lin. I didn’t think you would come home tonight” I hug her tighter and bury my face into her chest. 

“I’m here” she says. “Oh (Y/N), I know we had the argument, but I wouldn’t not come home because of it” She repeatedly kisses me.

“Lin, we should probably talk about yesterday before we have a repeat of it,” I say quietly. She nods in agreement. I back up and look into her jade green eyes.

“Yeah we should. I know I didn’t really let you talk, I’m sorry (Y/N).” her thumb rubs the back of my hand, “Tell me now”.

“I wasn’t saying you can’t protect yourself. It’s just,” I take in a deep breath, “I watched that man kill someone with his bare hands and then I was the one who found you. I thought he took two people away from me” My breath hitches, “I don’t want to lose the person I love”

“Love?” she asks. She can just barely see the blush on my face from the moonlight. “(Y/N), did you just say you love me?”

“Y- Yeah” I respond hesitantly. Her face too has shades of pink and a smile forms.

She gives me a kiss and rests her forehead on mine, “I Love you too (Y/N)!”

We take in the fact we told each other that before switching back to the subject at hand. We leave no questions unanswered discussing the attack on her working our way to behavior and communication while on the job. 

“Why were you on the couch when I got here? And why did the bed look like it was already slept in?” She knew the bed was made when we left for work the day before.

I look into her eyes before saying anything. “I kind of slept the whole day. When I woke up, I checked to see if you were home. When I realized, you weren’t, I got really upset and just fell back asleep on the couch” She cups my cheek and traces the scar.

My stomach grumbles a little making her break eye contact for a moment. “Did you eat yesterday?” She asks, concerned she won’t like my answer.

I shake my head and I can tell that worries her. 

She makes me get up so she can feed me. Since it’s so close to our alarm, she makes hotcakes for the both of us. We hold hands while we eat. It is not until the end of our meal that I look at her.

“So what are you going to tell the officer that ran into the bedroom this morning? You know he’ll share that with others” she scuffs.

“I’ll tell him if he values his job, he will make sure that doesn’t reach anyone else” She lets out a small chuckle and I'm curious.

“Well, when can we stop hiding our relationship?” I ask hoping we won’t have to hide much longer.

She looks over to me, “How about we start off with friends?” Even though I don’t have friends here, I nod. I’m just so happy she’s going to share with hers. 

We clear the counter and get ready. I take a quick shower before going into the bedroom to change and see Lin’s scar. We spoke about it this morning, so I simply take a deep breath and push my worry aside. Just as I pull my pants up, I feel her arms wrap around me and she gives me a kiss on my cheek. I look to my side so I can get a bit of a view of her, “What's that about?” I question.

“I just love you and want to show it” We smile at each other and before she can realize it, I bend over so her feet come off the ground and I spin around a little. When I straighten out, she pulls me down to the bed and holds me close. 

We lay there holding each other for a few minutes before we get up to finish dressing. I grab my bag from the counter and we leave the house. The officers leave in a satomobile and we walk. When we are sure they are out of our view, she grabs my hand and brings it to her lips, planting a kiss on the back of it. We let go before approaching the building and go to our desks. Mako is sitting at his desk when he asks what happened the day before. I simply tell him it’s not his business in the nicest way possible and get to work. I get bored after a while of just paperwork and feel the need to move, so I go to the training room to unload some of this energy. I work out in my sports bra and sweatpants for a while until another officer comes in. We help each other and I ask him if he wants to spar. Since we were warmed up, we went right to bending. We each are going hard with our bending and we start to draw a crowd in to watch our match. He strikes me a few times and finishes by binding my wrists to the wall with some rock. Lin walks in to see what the noise is. Thinking the match is over, he turns to the officers cheering for him and I use my feet to knock him over and pin him to the ground. I then pull my wrists out of the restraints and throw ice shards his way getting them just close enough before stopping them. He looks terrified and I bend all the water away from him.

I won the match and everyone was impressed. Lin looked unamused to the naked eye, but I could tell I even impressed her. I shower up and return to my desk to find a note. 

Come to my office. I want to discuss something.

I put the note down and walk to her door; It’s open so I let myself in. I look around for anyone else and see the coast is clear, shutting the door before walking over to her side, wrapping my arms around her waist, catching her off guard. 

“Hey you! I saw your note, everything ok?” I plant a kiss on her cheek and just as I’m about to pull away, she turns to me and pulls me back in to kiss me back.

“One, I love you. Two, you were amazing in that sparring match. Three, I love you” I melt at her words and cup her cheeks as I look into her gorgeous jade green eyes. 

“One, I love you too. Two, Thank you. Three, again, I love you” Although we meant every word, we still chuckle at how we went about communicating it. “Is there anything else Chief?”

“Yes. I wanted to ask how you would feel about being in the field every so often. If it makes you feel better, you can stick with me. I hate seeing you stuck at the desk all day, I know from your file you were great in the field in Ba Sing Se” Her gaze is so soft and caring, but I can see she’s being serious. 

“Can we start off with low profile cases for now?” Her hand brushes along my cheek as she nods. 

“We can try it tomorrow. Stay in here to work on the case with me? You have obviously been very helpful on it” I nod but retreat to get my things from my desk before we begin.

I grab a map and mark all the sightings that have been reported as well as Lin’s and my homes. There seems to be two different comfort zones for the earthbender and makes it difficult to get an idea of where he could be hiding. I pin the map up and look to Lin’s desk. There’s a file on the firebender who attacked her with notes from his interrogation in it. 

Tani Fero, 28, Firebender  
Cuts on stomach, Large laceration on back, Black eye  
Attacked by partner - Yuri Baak (Earthbender)  
Tani Fero is cooperating with officers and aiding in the arrest and imprisonment of Yuri Baak.

I’m rather surprised to read he’s helping after one attack, but grateful for it. There is still one person from Ba Sing Se that has not been seen and I jot down a note to ask him about that. He told us a bit about the earthbender, but not a hiding location. The uncertainty of his location rattles my nerves, but there is only so much we can do. Lin and I discuss the information we were provided from the interrogation and know we need to have another one to get the answers we truly need. Maybe seeing the two people he attacked will cause him to open up more, whether he means to or not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not gonna lie, hitting a bit of a block with this fic so writing might slow down. I'm trying my best you guys. Hope you enjoyed it.


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